Seems like a legitimate and reliable news source! Definitely not a website run by russians to get people riled up!
Bikers vs commie anarchists ( a pretty stiff contradiction right there ) ? .. In the very center of Seattle ? ..For what is now more than a week ? Seriously ... who the hell is running that sorry place ? Here in Chicago ... the place is as "progressive" as it gets , complete with unbelievable levels of corruption, out-of-control unions and all sorts of imaginable waste of taxpayers money but ... the place has been run ( so far ) by the old school Democrats who at least make sure that it mostly resembles a first-world city .. I mean basic stuff - no need to dodge piles of human feces, no endless homeless tent cities and while there are occasional riots , certainly no anarchists taking over parts of downtown for a week ..
Seattle has it's own kind of special weirdness that not only allows for, but openly celebrates this kind of action. There are Seattle city council members that got elected because they openly support Che' Guevara style revolution. They use city property and city time to promote far left-wing socialist agendas, and when the right calls them out on misuse of office, they cry "racist" and "fascist". And, they're gaining power! A lot of those people who want revolution, I suspect, would be surprised to learn about what Che' did after the revolution..... :-(
Some of the national media have exaggerated what has been going on in Seattle. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...attles-protests-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone/
Local news sources paint a less alarmist picture. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-protests-live-updates-on-friday-june-12/ https://mynorthwest.com/1937349/opinion-debunking-myths-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone/?
I’m probably the only person with a friend on this forum who went to the CHAZ to check it out. He said it was very sedate, but my friends first hand knowledge doesn’t hold a candle to the journalistic excellence that is every article on the starboard wing mediasphere. We’re only here to scare people, not report silly things like facts!
For the locals still viewing this quickly evolving dumpster fire of a thread, what would be recommendations for an airport/FBO in the greater Seattle area for visiting. We're planning on exploring several towns in the Cascade rain shadow for retirement research, so we'd be coming from the East. Any particular flying scenic route you all recommend for the Puget Sound area? Plan is to probably make it a multi-day trip of the area, so we could devote at least one day for ground exploring and one day to fly around the area before heading back. This is of course all planned once the covid restrictions at work are lifted, but would appreciate recommendations to plan ahead. Thanks!
OKH. Renton. Bremerton. BVS. Concrete. Darrington. and of course Arlington. most of the airports are open, open air dinning.
Not quite. My friend has lived on 13th Ave E his whole life. He's looking at $1000s of dollars to remove graffiti and other damage to his property. You can call it what you want, but for the people who actually live there and own property it's no "block party" for most. Perhaps you can invite them to your neighborhood? I know my buddy would like that.
I grew up in Seattle, and while I currently live in the SF Bay area, the Pacific Northwest is my favorite area to fly in and to. In the Seattle area, I have had good luck with parking at Paine Field (PAE) and Auburn (S50). Of the two FBO'S listed on Airnav.com for Paine, Regal Air was the one that had tie downs for light aircraft. Castle and Cook was the one that could arrange rental cars, and they had no issue with accommodating me for that even though I was parked at the other FBO, because they knew that their ramp was not suitable for light aircraft. Tiedowns at Auburn are listed as being provided by airport management. It's been five years or so since I've parked at either, so other than the current Airnav info, it's possible that my information is out of date. I have also parked at Boeing Field (BFI), but that was probably 25 years ago, so I don't know how accommodating they are for GA currently. The one time that I was planning to try Renton (RNT), they were full up due to a golf tournament in Olympia, so I don't have personal experience there. Two days is an awfully short time to be able to see much.
I'm not trying to defend those actions, but I am saying that the severity of what is going on has been much overblown by some *ahem* "news organizations".
I haven’t been up there in awhile but I’ve had good experiences day tripping at KFHR, KPAE, KTIW, KPWT and have overnighted at KRNT and 0S9. If it’s the rain shadow you want to check out then go to Sequim Valley W28. ‘Squim’(that’s how it’s pronounced) is the bullseye of the rain shadow. Looks like they sell gas and I’m sure transportation to town with lodging is easy. As far as a day of flying, there’s scenery in every direction. Just fly around. For lunch I would recommend Friday Harbor KFRH. Land, park in transit parking at the North end, walk to town (5-10 minutes), pick a restaurant, there’s many in a few block radius. I’ll wish you a beautiful VFR day
Ha. And here I thought the same about how overblown the coverage was of the lockdown rallies in April by some "ahem" other "news organizations." I guess it depends on your point of view.
Don't waste you time with downtown... Sister in law just moved away due to the homeless, and crime. They were right by Woodland Park and the zoo which is is a nice area, but...... The are now in Federal Way.
I was going by some other data for business ownership vs the front end. Cloudflare is numerous places, of course... t’is what they do...
There are some benefits to living downtown though - apparently it does protect you against COVID-19 infections since it is appears to be perfectly fine to participate in massive protests involving tens of thousands of people , while similar activity (albeit on much smaller scale ) like going to a park or having a wedding with 50+ people will get your *** fined if you attempt to do that in the suburbs.
I have heard lots of wonderful things about Orcas Island from many people. It's on my bucket list of places to visit and sit a spell.
It's pretty cool. I prefer Friday Harbor (on San Juan island) personally, but it's easy to see both in a few day trip.
"in the very center of Seattle" No...two miles east of the center of Seattle and up a significant hill. Were it not for the TV coverage, people traveling through downtown would never be aware of what was happening on Capital Hill. I grew up in Gary (ugh) and would not travel back to Chicagoland for any reason.
Indeed... Chicagoland sucks as pretty much all “progressive” cities do and for many reasons , but these are all mostly first-world reasons ...unlike SF or Seattle where significant parts of the city have this unique “you are now entering 3rd world slums” vibe - that’s new and appears to be unique invention of the latest brand ( generation) of progressive city executives ..
Grab a sectional....they can be found free online. Boeing Field is just south of downtown and within the city limits, Renton is right over Beacon Hill from BFI. Those are the closest. Auburn is in the Kent valley with good roads to Seattle. Paine is 30 miles north and Snohomish (Harvey Field) is about six air miles east of PAE. The Kitsap Peninsula is retiree heaven. I would suggest flying out of BFI west to Bremerton (PWT) to look at Bainbridge Island/Winslow as retirement locations, then north to bucolic Port Townsend for pie and a look around the small towns nearby, then to Sequim to scout around. I would recommend Port Angeles, but a lady who posts in the Travel Forum lives there and has little good to say about it. Diamond Point is another small airport on the Strait of Juan De Fuca just north of Sequim. If the San Juan Islands interest you, fly to Orcas (Eastsound) and/or Friday Harbor, then east to Arlington and Snohomish before heading back to Boeing. Google some of these towns and see what their Chambers of Commerce have to brag about. Use www.zillow.com to check out rental and purchase costs.
“you are now entering 3rd world slums” Capital Hill is far from being a 3rd world slum....quite the opposite. Seattle University is a couple of blocks from the protest location and CH is known for its student and LGBTQ vibe. The Seattle Art Museum, the Cornish College of the Arts and the Burke Museum are all on CH.Almost all of CH is residential. You are always going to find a radical fringe among students..my guess is that many of the protesters come from the U of W neighborhood. Check out the listing for CH: http://visitseattle.org/things-to-do/neighborhoods/
No, Ron Wanttaja is right - it’s to protect against pepper spray (specifically OC projectiles) and flash-bangs. Here you can see it in action. The young women (Aubreanna Inda) who got hit didn’t have an umbrella. Her heart stopped, but I believe the medics were able to revive her.
Yeah, in terms of time with wet stuff coming down, but in terms of ultimate amount, merely equals many mid-west cities. It just rarely rains at three inches per hour.
We do have lots of (most?) summers that have 30 day+ dry spells. And then it’s absolutely gorgeous - probably the most pleasant summers in the US. Unfortunately 2 of the last 3 years those were accompanied by wildfires and weeks of smog.
We were going to move to Florida for retirement; the Pacific northwest was #2, but FL is a bit cheaper. Still haven't nailed down the final spot.
I am not specifically talking about current protests ( that's just another symptom) ... we spent a week in WA state for pleasure ( and many multiple weeks in SF for work ) and on the first day , after getting off the train and walking around the courthouse , which is very much in the center , we had to divert because my wife freaked out and would not walk any further due to place looking like a dump and being basically occupied by (quite aggressive) homeless and the like. This is why I would not move to Seattle proper ( which is pretty much the very subject of this thread ) and that's why it is different than Chicago or NYC - sure there are plenty of shady and crime ridden parts of Chicago and NYC (just like any town anywhere in the world ) but you are not going to see any of that unless you go on a guided tour ( preferably with a local SWAT team )
Ah, yes. What we WSU Cougars call "the mistake on the lake". Back to the original poster's question. As many, myself included, have recommended is that you not live in Seattle and commute to Kent. Live much closer to work. I live on the outskirts of Olympia and for 19 years worked for Intel in a facility that they've since sold in Dupont. About half way between Olympia and Tacoma. A reverse commute as Olympia is a company town where the company is the state government. 19 miles each way and the entire time I worked there it was about 30 minutes each way. The opposite commute got steadily worse, but that didn't impact me. And if I had had to go farther north on I-5 the commute would have driven me nuts as it steadily got worse over the years. Live close to work. You won't regret it. And when the time comes you'll enjoy the best job I've ever had - being retired. 5 years and counting. Live near the airport where you keep your plane. I belong to a club at the Olympia airport (KOLM). Just over 20 minutes from the house to the hangars. This is a beautiful area to fly in. If you had been here in the late April time frame I would have recommended a flight over the Skagit valley (1000 AGL) to view the tulips in full bloom. If you are here this week, the Spruce Goose restaurant at the Port Townsend airport has great pie, but don't go this week. The airport is having the runway repaved and the current information is that it will re-open on Saturday, June 20. Then go stop there. Friday Harbor is a great place to fly into and visit. As noted above, the visitor parking is at the city end (and side) of the field. Fly in, tie down, note the combination for the cypher lock to get back into the airport and walk into town. Plenty of great places to eat. Assuming that the county likes visitors by then. Have fun making your choice.
I also personally choose to live close to work and don't commute from Seattle. However, a lot of people that do that have the notion that: Well, instead of commuting 5 times a week, I'll stay in the outskirts and then just drive into Seattle twice a week when I want to 'hang out'. So best of both worlds! It's not. I know many many people who started off thinking this way, but you won't go in unless you have friends who actually live in Seattle. Driving & Parking is just too painful (if you commute the other way, at least you would have a known parking spot), and public transportation is not good enough to use as a substitute. You'll maybe try going in weekly for a few months, and then it will become a "once every few months" thing. If your spouse has in mind that they want to go to a Jazz Club after work, or go try a new restaurant every week, or go see a play every week, you have to actually live in Seattle. Maybe when Eastrail opens up it might change things, but for now if you want to really experience Seattle, you have to live there. It really depends on what you're into. If you have more of a skiing and hiking lifestyle, then living in the Eastern suburbs are actually much better. You say you have a job offer in Kent and want a hangar. Have you looked into Crest Airpark?
Since a lot of people seem to have concerns about the downtown area, have you thought about visiting for a couple of days and staying in a hotel near the places your your SO is considering, so you and she can see if the neighborhood is as bad as people are saying before making a commitment? It's been many decades since I have visited that part of the city, so I don't have any personal experience to offer about it.
Not exactly pertinent to this thread, but when I was in Scotland years ago I thought it odd that some people there didn't bother with rain gear (they just got wet!). Dave
I think this is great advice, in spite of many of us (myself included) suggesting the commute isn't worth it. If the wife is that set on being downtown, the real decision matrix is whether her unhappiness is more unpleasant than said commute. I completely agree that if you don't live there, you won't visit as much as you might want. We had that mindset when we lived in the North County area of San Diego years ago. I can probably count on one hand how many times, in nearly 2 years of living there, that we actually went into SD proper to do anything. If not one hand, I can certainly count the times on two. Too annoying, all the same inconveniences that deon mentioned about SEA. Plenty of stuff to do up north where we lived, so unless there was a real compelling reason to go, we didn't. That doesn't take into account my weekday work commute to Miramar which was pretty close, just talking about our spare time.
